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===Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident=== ===Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident===
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== Martyrdom == == Martyrdom ==

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Suicide
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A cult suicide is a mass suicide by the members of a cult. In some cases all, or nearly all members have committed suicide at the same time and place. Groups which have committed such mass suicides include Heaven's Gate, Order of the Solar Temple, Peoples Temple (in the Jonestown incident) and the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God. In other cases, such as Filippians and the Taiping, a group has apparently supported mass suicide but without necessarily encouraging all members to participate.

Known cult suicides

Peoples Temple

Main article: Jonestown

On 18 November, 1978, 914 American followers of Jim Jones (formerly a church in the mainstream Christian denomination Disciples of Christ) died in a mass murder/suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. The dead included 274 children. Conspiracy theories allege that most of the victims were unwillingly injected with the poison, and some even allege involvement of the CIA. In an affidavit by former member Deborah Layton days before the massacre, however, she testified that there were suicide drills called white nights in which members practiced mass suicide by ingesting a liquid which they believed to be poison (as a test of loyalty). And in Jones' final speech, recorded on cassette tape, he states, "So my opinion is that you be kind to children and be kind to seniors and take the potion like they used to take in ancient Greece..." stating the intention that the group kill themselves while casting it as a political act: "We didn't commit suicide, we committed an act of revolutionary suicide protesting the conditions of an inhumane world."

Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God

On March 17 2000, between 780 and 1000 members of the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God died in a probable mass suicide in Uganda. The group had diverged from the Roman Catholic Church in order to emphasize apocalypticism and alleged Marian apparitions. The group had been called inward-looking movement that wore matching uniforms and restricted their speech to avoid saying anything dishonest or sinful. On the suicide itself locals said they held a party at which 70 crates of soft drinks and three bulls were consumed.

This version of events has been criticized, most notably Irving Hexham, and a Ugandan source states that even today "no one can really explain the whys, hows, whats, where, when, etc."

Solar Temple

From 1994 to 1997, the Order of the Solar Temple's members began a series of mass suicides, which led to roughly 74 deaths. Farewell letters were left by members, stating that they believed their deaths would be an escape from the "hypocrisies and oppression of this world." Added to this they felt they were "moving on to Sirius." Records seized by the Quebec police showed that some members had personally donated over $1 million to the cult's leader, Joseph Di Mambro.

There was also another attempted mass suicide of the remaining members, which was thwarted in the late 1990s. All the suicide/murders and attempts occurred around the dates of the equinoxes and solstices, which likely held some relation to the beliefs of the group.

Heaven's Gate

On March 26 1997, 39 followers of Heaven's Gate died in a mass suicide in Rancho Santa Fe, California, which borders San Diego to the north. These people believed, according to the teachings of their cult, that through their suicides they were "exiting their human vehicles" so that their souls could go on a journey aboard a spaceship they believed to be following comet Hale-Bopp. Some male members of the cult underwent voluntary castration in preparation for the genderless life they believed awaited them after the suicide. On March 30 1997, Robert Leon Nichols, a former roadie for the Grateful Dead, was discovered dead in his California trailer, with a note nearby that read in part "I'm going to the spaceship with Hale-Bopp to be with those who have gone before me." Using propane gas rather than vodka and phenobarbital to end his life, Nichols, like the members of Heaven's Gate, had his head covered by a plastic bag and his upper torso covered with a purple shroud. Nichols' connection with the cult is unknown.

In May 1997, two Heaven's Gate members who had not been present for the mass suicide attempted suicide, one succeeding in the attempt, the other going into coma for two days and then recovering. In February 1998 the survivor, Chuck Humphrey, committed suicide.

Suspected cult suicides

Branch Davidians

On April 19, 1993, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms siege of the Branch Davidians near Waco, Texas ended with an assault and subsequent firestorm that destroyed the compound and killed most of the inhabitants. During the siege, highly concentrated C.S. gas and pyrotechnic "flash-bang" grenades were fired. Some believe these devices ignited the gasoline stockpiled inside the building.

Richard L. Sherrow, a fire and explosion investigator, a retired BATF Arson Investigator hired to investigate the cause of the fire for a civil lawsuit states in his preliminary conclusion "The fire originated in the southeast corner tower from the tipping of a lit Coleman-type lantern which fell onto combustible materials, most likely bedding materials, as the room was utilized as sleeping quarters, and was most likely caused by violent contact or mechanical shock associated with the CEV removing the corner of the southeast tower directly under the point of origin."

The mainstream media reported immediately after the fire that the Branch Davidians, when being overrun, started fires, and therefore this incident was a "cult suicide" or even a murder-suicide perpetrated by the leaders. However, some independent journalists, academics, and other experts contend that the fires could have been an accident or result of a panic. Others accuse the ATF of inadvertently causing or even intentionally starting fires during the assault.

Questionable cult suicides

The Family International

Some allege that the Family International, previously called the Children of God, encourages suicide despite its official rejection of such. On the other hand, their beliefs emphasize an imminent Second Coming, which some deem a negative sign with regards to potential for suicidal behavior.

At the beginning of 2005, the cult gained renewed media attention due to the premeditated murder-suicide of former member Ricky Rodriguez, biological son of current leader Karen Zerby and informally adopted son of the group's founder, David Berg. It revived allegations that the group is abusive and inciting of suicidal ideation. Thus his death was widely called a "suicide of a cult member", or "cult suicide", though this view was far from universal. The event made it to popular culture in oblique references in NBC shows Third Watch and Law & Order

Defenders of the group contend that Rodriguez's behavior was not typical of the group, and that there is no evidence their members are more suicidal than those in mainstream society.

Las Cañadas suicide sect scare

Heidi Fittkau-Garthe, a German psychologist, and a previously high-profile Brahma Kumaris, was charged in the Canary Islands with a plot of murder-suicide in which 31 group members, including five children, were to ingest poison. After the suicides, they were told they would be picked up by a spaceship and taken to an unspecified destination. However a more recent article in Tenerife News casts doubt that there was any intention on the part of the group to commit suicide.

Disputed cult suicides

Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident

Main article: Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident

On January 23, 2001, six people set themselves on fire in Tiananmen Square, Beijing. The Chinese Communist Party alleged them to be practitioners of Falun Gong. Falun Gong in New York denies that the victims were practitioners on grounds that the teachings explicitly forbid suicide and killing. Some third party observers speculate that misguided practitioners may have taken it upon themselves to demonstrate in this manner, perhaps due to misinterpreting some writings of the founder, Li Hongzhi, thus inadvertently handing a propaganda opportunity to the Chinese authorities. Amidst political misuse of the term "cult" by the Chinese government, in the drive to eradicate Falun Gong, some commentators say the Chinese Communist Party staged the incident in order to rally public support and escalate the persecution.

Martyrdom

Some argue that martyrdom, as found in religions such as Christianity or Islam, is tantamount to suicide. This argument states that by accepting -- or even inviting-- their own death, the martyr is committing something like assisted suicide. This theory is not in itself new. Richard Marius's unflattering biography of Thomas More indicated More felt hesitant about accepting martyrdom too easily, for fear that would be too similar to suicide. This idea has gained more currency in modern times.

Most mainstream religions traditionally forbid members to take their own lives. Martyrdom generally involves losing one's life (usually passively) due to one's religious beliefs or practices. The Roman Catholic Church considers life to be a gift whose sole "owner" is "God", who is consequently the only individual who may legitimately decide when to interrupt it. Special cases exist, such as the giving of one's own life to save that of another, but most cultures do not consider such acts to be true suicides.

Islam arguably has the harshest view of suicide of any major religion. Therefore some of the lowest suicide rates are found in Muslim nations like Jordan or Egypt. Still, the extreme Islamist movement has strongly encouraged many Muslims to accept a theology in which becoming a suicide bomber is not considered suicide. Instead, it is described by the extremists as a "martyrdom operation", the purpose of which is to kill the enemy. From this viewpoint, one's own death is a consequence, rather than a goal.

Hundreds of Muslims, primarily Palestinians and Saudi Arabians, have died in the act of killing both military personnel and civilians in this fashion over the last decade, mostly in the Middle East. In 2001, 19 died in such a way in the United States (see September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack).

Related to this, some would suggest that if "martyrdom" is ever directly self-inflicted it becomes cult-suicide. This line of thought leads to debates about whether the self-immolation of Buddhist monks in Vietnam was cult suicide. One camp believes that in a sense it was cult suicide, but the other disputes this as it was ultimately a political action rather than a religious one. This argument could also apply to suicide bombers if their actions are understood as political rather than religious. However, added to this the self-immolation was of an individual rather than condoned by the leadership of a group. No recognized Buddhist organization is known to have asked Thích Quảng Ðức, for example, to immolate himself.

Mass suicide can also occur as a means of escape when a religious group perceives itself to be hopelessly besieged by its enemies or other adverse external pressure. These external foes may be real or imagined (see Masada). The legend of Masada, and similar examples, are sometimes explicitly used by cult-suicides as a justification. They may say that like those at Masada they are in danger from an evil empire, even if that evil empire is imaginary. They therefore prefer death to surrender, hence criticisms have arisen over the occasional glorification of Masada.

See also

Footnotes

  1. *"Suicide Terrorists: Are They Suicidal?" Ellen Townsend. Suicide & Life - Threatening Behavior. New York: Feb 2007. Vol. 37, Iss. 1; pg. 35, 15 pgs: "There are some other examples of suicides involving group (e.g., cult suicides) and dyadic (e.g., suicide pacts) processes; but these are very rare."
    • "Leadership races need a little drama"; Tim Harper. Toronto Star. Toronto, Ont.: Apr 19, 2003. pg. F.02: "... a vote for Campbell was akin to the party drinking its Kool-Aid, a stunning reference to the mass cult suicide at Jonestown in Guyana."
    • "Suicidal credo that came from the West" Sam Kiley. The Times. London (UK): Mar 20, 2000. pg. 3:"Until the weekend, suicidal doomsday cults were seen by Africans as a decadent Western luxury. But the deaths of more than 230 ordinary Ugandans ranks as the second-largest cult suicide in recent times."
  2. Logan Nakyanzi, Uganda: Religion That Kills- Why Does Uganda Have So Many Cults?, ABC News, Feb. 14, 2000(?)
  3. Massimo Introvigne, Tragedy in Uganda: the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, a Post-Catholic Movement, CESNUR, Retrieved 2007-10-13
  4. Quiet cult's doomsday deaths, BBC News, 29 March, 2000
  5. Simon Robinson, Uganda's Faithful Dead, Time, Mar 26, 2000
  6. Irving Hexham, Professor of Religious Studies, University of Calgary, What Really Happened in Uganda? Suicide or Murder, Religion in the News, Vol. 3, No. 2, Summer 2000, pp. 7-9 and 24
  7. Gerald Businge, Seven Years Since the Kanungu Massacre - Are we any wiser?, UG Pulse, March 17, 2007
  8. THE SOLAR TEMPLE, Religious Tolerance.org, Retrieved 2007-10-13
  9. Order of the Solar Temple, Virginia University, Retrieved 2007-10-13
  10. Tragedy Of The Solar Temple Cult Stephen Dafoe & Templar History Magazine, 2002, Retrieved 2007-10-13
  11. Solar Temple: A cult gone wrong, CBC News, Retrieved 2007-10-13
  12. Katherine Ramsland, Death Journey, Crime Library, , Retrieved 2007-10-13
  13. Jonathan Broder, Suicide in San Diego - Were cultists recruited on the Web?, Salon/March 28, 1997 per Rick Ross
  14. Some members of suicide cult castrated, CNN, March 28, 1997, per Rick Ross
  15. Two More Search For Heaven's Gate, The Associated Press, May 6, 1997, per Rick Ross
  16. Ex-Heaven's Gate member is found dead, Associated Press, February 21, 1998, per Rick Ross
  17. Waco admission damages Reno, BBC News August 27, 1999
  18. Carol Moore, The FBI's April 19, 1993 Gas And Tank Attack, Ch. 10, "The Davidian Massacre"
  19. Fire Investigator's Civil Suit Affidavit On Origin Of April 19, 1993 Fire At Mount Carmel, In The United States District Court, For The Southern District Of Texas, Houston Division
  20. Ricky Rodriguez Video Transcript, Ricky Rodriguez
  21. Law & Order : Season 15 (2004-05) Sects, episode originally aired March 30, 2005, Footnote TV, Retrieved 2007-10-13
  22. Suicide and the Sanctity of Life, The Family International, Retrieved 2007-10-13
  23. Rod Usher, Experience, Time, January 19, 1998 Vol. 151 No. 3
  24. Beam them up, Heidi - Remembering the Las Cañadas suicide sect scare, Tenerife News Online, Retrieved, 2007-10-13
  25. ^ Sunderland, Judith. (2002). From the Household to the Factory: China's campaign against Falungong. Human Rights Watch. ISBN 1564322696
  26. "The Issue of Killing" from Zhuan Falun, Falun Dafa
  27. Matthew Gornet, The Breaking Point, Time, June 25, 2001
  28. Barend ter Haar, Falun Gong - Evaluation and Further References
  29. John Gittings, China prepares for new offensive against 'dangerous' sect, The Guardian, January 29, 2001
  30. Global suicide rates, World Health Organisation, retrieved, 2007-10-13

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